I moved to Switzerland from Canada over ten years ago. This country gave me a career, stability, and eventually the woman I'm going to marry. Troovo is my way of giving something back.
The idea started the way most ideas start: frustration.
I wanted to sell something online. I went to the obvious places — tutti, ricardo, the platforms everyone uses. What I found was fees on top of fees, confusing pricing tiers, and a wall of ads competing with my listing for attention.
Then I looked deeper. Turns out most of these platforms are owned by the same company. SMG Swiss Marketplace Group controls tutti, ricardo, anibis, homegate, immoscout24, autoscout24 — basically everything. When one company owns the whole market, there's no pressure to improve. Why would they? Where else are you going to go?
So I built somewhere else to go.
A Side Project That Grew
Troovo started as a side project. I work full time in IT infrastructure, so this is evenings and weekends. The first version was rough. The current version is something I'm genuinely proud of.
The whole platform runs on under CHF 1'000 per year — infrastructure, app store fees, everything. That's not a typo. No massive server farms. No venture capital burn rate. Just clean code, smart architecture, and a focus on what actually matters.
Because of that, I can offer what the big platforms won't: free listings without the catch. No commissions. No subscription required to contact sellers. No ads cluttering the experience.
Why Free?
Some people ask why I don't charge more. I could. But that's not the point. I built Troovo because I was tired of being squeezed by platforms that forgot they exist to serve users, not extract money from them.
I'm not trying to become the next monopoly. I just want to give Switzerland a marketplace that's fast, secure, free, and actually respects the people who use it.
What Now?
If that sounds like something worth supporting, post a listing. Tell a friend. Or just browse around. Troovo exists because one person got frustrated enough to build something better. Maybe you'll find it useful.